Is There a Functional Relation Between Set Shifting and Hyperactivity in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?
Open accessAbstract
Objective: Replicated evidence indicates that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show disproportionate increases in hyperactivity/physical movement when their underdeveloped executive functions are taxed. However, our understanding of hyperactivity’s relation with set shifting is limited, which is surprising given set shifting’s importance as the third core executive function alongside working memory and inhibition. The aim of this study was to experimentally examine the effect of imposing set shifting and inhibition demands on objectively measured activity level in children with and without ADHD. Method: The current study used a validated experimental manipulation to differentially evoke set shifting, inhibition, and general cognitive demands in a carefully phenotyped sample of children aged 8–13 years with ADHD ( n = 43) and without ADHD ( n = 34). Activity level was sampled during each task using multiple, high-precision actigraphs; total hyperactivity scores (THS) were calculated. Results: Results of the 2 × 5 Bayesian ANOVA for hyperactivity revealed strong support for a main effect of task (BF 10 = 1.79 × 10 18 , p < .001, ω 2 = .20), such that children upregulated their physical movement in response to general cognitive demands and set shifting demands specifically, but not in response to increased inhibition demands. Importantly, however, this manipulation did not disproportionally increase hyperactivity in ADHD as demonstrated by significant evidence against the task × group interaction (BF 01 = 18.21, p = .48, ω 2 = .002). Conclusions: Inhibition demands do not cause children to upregulate their physical activity. Set shifting produces reliable increases in children’s physical movement/hyperactivity over and above the effects of general cognitive demands but cannot specifically explain hyperactivity in children with ADHD.
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A meta-analysis found a small-to-medium inhibitory control effect in ASD (d=0.48), with younger children showing more pronounced deficits than adolescents (preschool d=0.72; school-aged d=0.56; adolescence d=0.42).
“A meta-analysis identified a small-to-medium effect (d=0.48), with younger children showing more pronounced deficits than adolescents (preschool d=0.72; vs. school-aged d=0.56; vs. adolescence d=0.42).81”
From Executive function deficits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder (2024) · cites this paper as [81]
The Method > Participants passage describes an ADHD study that excluded children with autism spectrum disorder. The Discussion addresses inhibitory-control demands and hyperactivity, but neither it nor the passages found by searching the reported effect sizes and ASD age groups reports an ASD meta-analysis or the claimed estimates. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.78)
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Digital Pathways to Executive Function Skills
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- Authors
- Irwin, L. N., Groves, N. B., Soto, E. F., & Kofler, M. J.
- Affiliations
- Florida State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kofler, Michael J.
- Venue
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2020-05-27
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1019-1027
- ISSN
- 1355-6177 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7661
- PMC
- PMC7658020
- OpenAlex
- W3029234980
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R34MH102499, R01MH115048)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, set-shifting, hyperactivity, executive function, inhibition, physical activity, actigraphy, children, cognitive demand
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Bayes Theorem, Child, Female, Humans, Inhibition, Psychological, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Neuropsychological Tests, Executive Function
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